Dairy Free Lasagne and Cannelloni

How about two recipes in one? Little one really enjoys mince and pasta based dinners. Don’t get me wrong I love spaghetti bolognese however sometimes it can get a bit repetitive. Lasagne and cannelloni is a twist on a familiar dinner which usually means a hit with little one. Add to that the addition of a white sauce which boosts her calcium intake, it means it’s a winner for me too!

Meat Sauce (Taken from my bolognese recipe. You can find the original post here.)

Ingredients
500g mince, I used beef

Olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

150g mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tsp each of basil and oregano

2 tins of chopped tomatoes (800g)

200/300ml hot vegetable stock (I used kallo very low salt) or just boiled water

6/8 cherry tomatoes

Handful of frozen peas and sweetcorn (optional)Method
1. Over a medium heat brown the mince in a large saucepan. Once browned remove the mince and drain the fat away. Keep the move to one side

2. Next add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot and cook until starting to soften, about 8-10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and return the mince to the pan, cooking for a couple of minutes.

3. Stir in the tomato purée, basil and oregano, cooking for a few minutes.

4. Pour in the tinned tomatoes, veg stock (or just boiled water), cherry tomatoes and stir until well combined. Add seasoning if using.

5. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 mins until reduced and the sauce is thicker. If it gets too thick then add a splash more water. At about ten minutes before finishing the sauce, add the frozen peas and sweetcorn and stir through.
Whilst the meat sauce cooks you can make your white sauce.

400 ml dairy free milk, I use OatlyMethod
1. Melt a heaped tbsp of dairy free spread in a pan over a low heat. I used Pure sunflower spread.

2. Add a heaped tbsp of plain flour. Could be gluten free. Stir quickly and cook for a couple of minutes until you make a paste (or roux). I use a silicon spatula.

3. Gradually add dairy free milk (I used Oatly) to the pan whilst continuously stirring. Add a little at a time to prevent lumps and to help the sauce thicken. I added about 400ml of milk. Slightly increase the heat and stir until the sauce is thick and smooth. AssemblyLasagne:

2. In an oven proof dish place half of the meat sauce on the bottom and spread out evenly. Then cover with a layer of lasagne sheets (I parboil the sheets for 5 minutes first). Top with a third of the white sauce.

3. Repeat step one, finishing with a layer of pasta followed by the white sauce.

4. You could add grated dairy free cheese to the top.

5. Pop in the oven and cook for half an hour until the lasagne is bubbling! If the lasagne looks as if it’s drying out cover with tin foil. This helps to keep in the moisture.Allow the lasagne to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving as it helps to hold its shape.

Cannelloni:

1 pack of dried cannelloni tubes 250g
1. Preheat your oven to gas mark 6, 200 C. 2. In an oven proof dish place a couple of tablespoons of the meat sauce on the bottom and spread out evenly.

3. Fill the dried cannelloni tubes with some of the meat sauce. Tip: stand the tube on a spoon and spoon in the filling. This stops the sauce from going straight through. Then place the filled tube on top of the layer of meat sauce. Repeat until you have filled your oven proof dish with tubes/ run out of cannelloni tubes or sauce (whatever happens first!).

4. Pour the white sauce over the filled pasta tubes. (You could add grated dairy free cheese to the top)

5. Pop in the oven and cook for half an hour until the cannelloni is bubbling! If the cannelloni looks as if it’s drying out cover with tin foil. This helps to keep in the moisture. Allow the cannelloni to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving as it helps to hold its shape.